1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to hair spray compositions and a method of treating hair. More specifically, it relates to hair spray compositions containing fluorocarbon additives and conventional film-forming resins.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In today's society a great deal of attention is paid to personal appearance. Of particular concern to most people is the neatness and attractive appearance of their hair. Considerable time and money is spent curling hair and arranging it into attractive styles. However, the hair often loses its curl and style as a result of exposure to wind and weather or by mechanical agitation.
To alleviate this problem, hair sprays have been developed which are uniformly deposited on the hair to maintain curl and style for longer periods of time. These hair sprays typically contain a film-forming resin, a solvent, and miscellaneous additives such as plasticizers and perfumes. When these hair spray compositions are applied to the hair, the solvent evaporates and a film of the resin is left on the hair to hold the hair in place.
A variety of film-forming resins have been used in hair spray compositions. These range from the softer vinylpyrrolidone polymers and copolymers thereof to the somewhat harder esters of maleic anhydride methylvinyl ether copolymers.
A major problem with conventional film-forming resins used in hair sprays is their sensitivity to moisture and humidity. Thus, upon exposure to rain or humidity, the resin loses some of its ability to maintain the hair style.
To improve the humidity resistance of film-forming resins, fluoroorganic radicals have been previously employed. German Offenleggunsscrift 2,314,659 discloses copolymers of vinyl esters, unsaturated acids and copolymerizable fluorocarbon compounds as hair-treating compositions. Cosmetic preparations to shorten hair drying time comprising fluorochemical acrylate polymers or copolymers are disclosed in British Pat. No. 1,268,636 and Canadian Pat. No. 940,049. British Pat. No. 1,290,367 discloses film-forming polar polymers containing 0.5 to 15 percent fluorine and 5 to 22 percent pendent carboxyl groups and hairstyling compositions containing them. These foreign patents relate, in general, to fluorine-modified polymers in hair-treating compositions, and do not describe the simple addition of small amounts of non-polymeric fluorochemicals to hair spray compositions containing nonfluorinated film-forming resins.
British Pat. No. 1,312,675 and French Pat. No. 2,054,478 describe the use of monomeric and polymeric fluorochemicals in a method of treating hair, either by themselves or mixed with one or more other materials. These patents do not utilize fluorocarbon compounds as simple additives to hair spray compositions containing conventional film-forming resins. Rather, the fluorocarbon compound itself is the major hair treating ingredient of the compositions described therein. Additionally, the fluorocarbon compounds utilized in these prior art compositions do not contain an aromatic non-fluorinated moiety.
A recent commercial hair spray product sold in the United States under the trademark "ALBERTO VO.sub.5 " by Alberto Culver Company contains a film-forming resin which is believed to be a half ester of methylvinyl ether maleic anhydride copolymer, and this product also contains a fluorocarbon ingredient. Although the exact nature of this fluorocarbon ingredient is not known, it is presently believed to contain phosphorus. This ingredient is distinguishable from the fluorocarbon additives of the present invention both in chemical structure and in performance on human hair.
The improved hair spray compositions of the present invention provide significant advantages over hair sprays of the prior art. The present compositions impart superior soil resistance to the hair, and curl retention following momentary immersion in water is particularly improved. The present compositions are resistant to high humidity, nontacky and readily removed from the hair by shampooing. The toxicity of the compositions, as measured by the degree of eye irritation, is very low. Additionally, the fluorocarbon additives of the present invention are effective in very low concentrations, thereby offering significant economic advantages. Since there is no chemical interaction between the film-forming resin and the fluorocarbon additive, a wide range of combinations of ingredients is possible. Other advantages of the present invention will be apparent from a further description of the invention herein below.